The Hector Group on a Cold Fall Day 03

Weekends during the fall are made for chasing "roosters" regardless of the weather. The "group" from Hector may dress scary, but you should see them hunt....downright "frightful"! Brad, Roger and Bob, Jr. weather the weather near Madison, MN.

Pheasant Hunting Team

Duke and I share one of our fall prizes....after a great afternoon hike in the outdoors near Madison, MN.

Dog-tired Jeremy

Cousin Jeremy visited his cousins in Minnesota during a fall pheasant hunt in 04 (near Marietta, MN)....after walking all day, both he and two of his best friends Brewster (Randy's dog) and Grizzly (Jeremy's dog)....found the "floor" at a Hage Hideout near Diamond Lake...Atwater, MN. It sure was great to see the Hage clan hunting together!

Tied up and waiting for us in Wisconsin!

Guide Cousin Randy has some great tree stand areas set up in Wisconsin. This one is right outside his living room window....06.

My Last Buck on the Ponderosa

This px is the last buck I shot on the private lands section called the "ponderosa" in western MN (2004), I had hunted this specific area for over 20 years.....I shot it from a treestand in the middle of a section.....actually, the first shot was forty yards away and I hit the antlers only.... the deer got up! after 10 minutes and wobbled away from me behind some cottonwoods,...after waiting for eternity (3-5 minutes) I shot again....the deer dropped at 147 yards. The property I hunted on for almost 25 years ....was sold to another private party. Ouch!

Cousin Randy's Bear Hunt in 05

Cousin Randy shot this bear in Wisconsin using a .44 magnum pistol during the fall 05 bear season.

Two bucks for Rich

Sitting in a "not-so-sturdy" treestand in the northwest corner of the grove (North farm) proved productive for brother Rich on opening firearm season in 2003. He harvested these two bucks both before 10am on private property near Marietta, MN in west central MN. His trusty 870 pump 12 ga. finally scored! (I think all three Hage brothers are still using Remington 870 12 ga. shotguns with slugs during the 4A season in MN).

Wisconsin Buck 04

Cousin Randy put me in a tree stand near Cable, WI on Monday of 2004 season. Hunting partner from MN, Roger Wiehr, and I ventured to Wisconsin to hunt with Randy. Unfortunately we missed the opening Sat and Sun hunts due to me being somewhere in southern Mexico with students from school. Either way, this nice buck came out at sunset.

Hage Family Shotgun

Dad says this 12 ga. shotgun was given to him by his dad, Abner, while living in the Minneapolis area. Abner had obtained it used from someone in Mpls, MN around 1940. Check out the original serial number; it is a Remington firearm. We are guessing the age to be around 74 years old.

Dad (Bob,Sr.) replaced the forearm (said it was beaten up pretty bad) during the 1960s; he recalls the gun "comes up" perfectly every time. Of course, he doesn't remember "missing" many ducks or pheasants with it. The choke on the barrel is also very worn....I remember him always checking the diameter of it with a dime. During the 1950s and 60s Dad took this gun into duck sloughs, cornfields, and pheasant country. It took a physical beating; he said to clean it, he would take it into the shower with him and run very hot water through everything. It seemed to work. When he lifted it for these pictures (July 7, 2006) he remarked "I don't remember it being this heavy!?" Dad is 77 years young.

I remember as a kid always wanting an "automatic" just like Dad's (and Grandpa's); in fact, when I got to college in 1972, I traded by original Remington 870 wingmaster (gift from folks) and my .22 rifle (also a gift) for an old used Remington auto shotgun "just like Dad's". The saleman at Poor Borches in Marshall, MN wanted to just sell me a replacement barrrel for the 870...but I was dead set on getting my own "Hage Auto". Unfortunately, I couldn't hit a mallard in a morning corn field if my life depended on it (especially when it nevered repeated for me.....something about turning the rings around, and around and around. I eventually sold it to a collector/trap shooter from Rosemount, MN.

I think both Rich and Bob used the Hage shotgun.

Dad retired from teaching in 1975 and the Hector community gave him an 1100 Remington automatic as a gift. The Hage Auto has been retired pretty much since then.

And, I found this photograph from early 1960's....Steve demonstrating to brothers and mother that he could handle the "Hage Shotgun".....a bit of historical evidence relating to Steve's desire to some day have a shotgun like Dad's.